There was something in his eyes that didn't match the man she thought she could manipulate, something cold, sharp, and utterly unyielding.
"I appreciate your effort to persuade me," Yuanfeng said finally, his tone polite but distant, "but next time, if Father has something to say, he can tell me directly."
With that, he turned away, shifting Huaijin slightly so that her face was hidden from Xu Meilin's view again.
The woman's painted smile twitched. Her fingers clenched subtly around the silk fabric of her dress, nails pressing faintly into her palm.
She took a step forward. "Wait, Yuanfeng—"
But before she could reach him, Huaijin spoke again, loud and clear this time, with all the blunt innocence of a child who had no filter whatsoever.
"Daddy, let's go. I don't want to talk to this fake lady." Chi Huaijin scrunched her nose up, as if she smelled something bad, puckering her lips like a baby duck as she looked up and Yuanfeng and squeezed his fingers.
